Overview
School Nutrition Programs | Program Guidance | Forms | Resources | Nutrition Education
The U.S. Department of Agriculture's (USDA) meal patterns for preschoolers (ages 1-4) in the National School Lunch Program (NSLP) , School Breakfast Program (SBP), and Afterschool Snack Program (ASP) and Seamless Summer Option (SSO) of the NSLP are legislated by the USDA final rule, Child and Adult Care Food Program: Meal Pattern Revisions Related to the Healthy, Hunger-Free Kids Act of 2010, and follow the same requirements as the CACFP. For detailed guidance on the preschool meal pattern requirements and crediting foods, refer to the CSDE's Menu Planning Guide for Preschoolers in the NSLP and SBP.
Meal Patterns |
Menu Planning |
Meal Service
Serving the Same Menu to Preschoolers and Grades K-12
Preschoolers Eating with Other Grades (Comingled Meals)
Meal Patterns for Preschoolers
- Comparison Charts
- Crediting Foods
- Crediting Foods in Preschool Menus (Related Resources section of CSDE's Meal Patterns for Preschoolers in School Nutrition Programs webpage)
- Noncreditable Foods for Preschoolers in the NSLP and SBP (CSDE)
- Grain Ounce Equivalents
- Grain Ounce Equivalents for Preschoolers in the NSLP and SBP (CSDE)
- Ounce Equivalents (Related Resources section of CSDE's Meal Patterns for Preschoolers in School Nutrition Programs webpage)
- Meal Patterns
- ASP Meal Pattern for Preschoolers (CSDE)
- Breakfast Pattern for Preschoolers (CSDE)
- Lunch Meal Pattern for Preschoolers (CSDE)
- CSDE Guide: Menu Planning Guide for Preschoolers in the NSLP and SBP (CSDE)
- Nutrition Standards for CACFP Meals and Snacks (USDA)
- Training Resources
- CACFP Cooking Videos (USDA)
- CACFP Halftime: Thirty on Thursdays webinar series: Topics related to the CACFP meal pattern requirements (National CACFP Sponsors Association)
- CACFP Meal Pattern Training Slides (USDA)
- CACFP Training Tools (USDA)
- CARE Connection Online Training: Step-by-Step Menu Planning (ICN)
- Training for Child Nutrition Programs (CSDE webpage)
- USDA Memos
- USDA Memo SP 01-2018: Updated Infant and Preschool Meal Patterns in NSLP and SBP: Q&As
- USDA Memo SP 01-2019 and CACFP 01-2019: Guidance for FY19: Updated CACFP Meal Patterns and Updated NSLP and SBP Infant and Preschool Meal Patterns
Menu Planning for Preschoolers
- Best Practices
- CACFP Best Practices (English) (USDA)
- CACFP Best Practices (Spanish): Programa de comidas para niños y adultos: Buenas practicas (USDA)
- USDA Memo CACFP 15-2016: Optional Best Practices to Further Improve Nutrition in the Child and Adult Care Food Program Meal Pattern
- Crediting Foods
- Crediting Foods in Preschool Menus (Related Resources section)
- Menu Planning Guide for Preschoolers in the NSLP and SBP (CSDE)
- Food Safety
- Menu Planning Guidance
- CSDE Guide: Menu Planning Guide for Preschoolers in the NSLP and SBP (CSDE)
- Menu Forms for Preschoolers (Documents/Forms section)
- Menu Planning for Child Nutrition Programs (CSDE)
- Sample Menus for CACFP Child Care Programs (CSDE's Meal Patterns for CACFP Child Care Programs webpage)
- Serving School Meals to Preschoolers (USDA)
- Nutrition Facts Label
- Reading Food Labels for Allergens (Documents/Forms section of CSDE's Special Diets in School Nutrition Programs webpage)
- Using the Nutrition Facts Label in the CACFP (USDA)
- Production Records
- Production Records for Preschoolers (Documents/Forms section)
- Recipes
- Recipes (CSDE's Menu Planning for Child Nutrition Programs webpage)
- Resource Lists
- Snacks
- Serving Snacks in the CACFP (USDA)
- Special Diets
- Sugar Limits for Preschool Menus
- Breakfast Cereals
- Yogurt
- Vegetables
Meal Service for Preschoolers
- Family Style
- Section III. Meal Service Options in USDA Memo SP 01-2018: Updated Infant and Preschool Meal Patterns in NSLP and SBP: Q&As
- Serving School Meals to Preschoolers (USDA)
- Offer versus Serve (OVS)
- Not allowed in the preschool meal patterns for the NSLP, SBP, SSO, and ASP
- Only allowed when preschoolers eat together with grades K-5 in the NSLP, SBP, or SSO (see Preschoolers Eating with Other Grades (Comingled Meals))
- Serving School Meals to Preschoolers (USDA)
- Water Availability
- USDA Memo SP 28-2011: Water Availability During NSLP Meal Service
- USDA Memo SP 39-2019: Clarification on the Milk and Water Requirements in the School Meal Program
- USDA Memo SP 49-2016 and CACFP 18-2016: Resources for Making Potable Water Available in Schools and Child Care Facilities
- Resources for promoting water in schools (see "Water Availability" in the CSDE's Resource List for Child Nutrition Programs)
Serving the Same Menu to Preschoolers and Grades K-12
The NSLP, SBP, SSO, and ASP meal patterns for preschoolers and grades K-12 are different. When school food authorities (SFAs) serve the same lunch, breakfast, or snack menu to both groups, the menu items must comply with whichever requirements are stricter. For example, the NSLP, SBP, and SSO meal patterns for grades K-12 have stricter whole grain-rich (WGR) criteria than the preschool meal patterns. Meals served to both groups must comply with the WGR criteria for grades K-12. The NSLP, SBP, SSO, and ASP preschool meal patterns require a sugar limit for yogurt and breakfast cereals, but the meal patterns for grades K-12 do not. Yogurt and breakfast cereals served to both groups must comply with the preschool sugar limit.
- Comparison of Meal Pattern Requirements for Preschoolers and Grades K-12 in the Afterschool Snack Program of the NSLP (CSDE)
- Comparison of Meal Pattern Requirements for Preschoolers and Grades K-12 in the NSLP and SBP (CSDE)
- Section 1 of the CSDE's Menu Planning Guide for Preschoolers in the NSLP and SBP
Preschoolers Eating with Other Grades (Co-mingling)
“Co-mingling” is the practice of serving meals to a variety of grades in the same service area at the same time. This typically occurs due to operational constraints within a school, such as limited time and space.
When students are co-mingled, the school may use the meal pattern of the older grades (such as the
K-5 meal pattern) for preschoolers if:
- preschoolers and students from older grade groups (such as K-5, K-8, or K-12) are served together in the same place at the same time;
- it is hard to tell the preschoolers from older students; and
- it would be operationally difficult to serve different foods or different amounts of foods during the combined meal service.
For example, when preschoolers and grades K-5 are served lunch or breakfast in the same service area at the same time, SFAs may choose to follow the K-5 meal pattern for both groups. When preschoolers and grades K-8 are served lunch or breakfast in the same service area at the same time, SFAs may choose to follow the K-8 meal pattern for both groups. When preschoolers and grades K-12 are served ASP snack in the same service area at the same time, SFAs may choose to follow the ASP meal pattern for grades K-12 for both groups.
Keep in mind that the preschool meal patterns provide the amounts and types of foods that most younger children need for healthy growth and development. The USDA strongly encourages SFAs to find ways to serve grade-appropriate meals and ASP snacks to preschoolers and older students to best address their nutritional needs.
SFAs must follow the preschool meal patterns when meals and ASP snacks are served to preschoolers in a different area or at a different time. For more information, refer to USDA Memo SP 37-2017: Flexibility for Co-Mingled Preschool Meals: Questions and Answers and the USDA's resource, Serving School Meals to Preschoolers.